Apparatus for transferring liquids

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a device for transferring predetermined quantities of different liquid medium contained in separate containers which device comprises pump means for selectively withdrawing predetermined amounts of different liquid media from different containers and then transferring the withdrawn liquid media to the same receptacle.

' United States Patent 1 Lartigue et al.

[4 1 May 14, 1974 APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS Inventors: GerardLartigue,

Fontenay-aux-Roses; Andre Rousselet, Eaubonne, both of FranceHoffmann-La Roche Inc., Nutley, NJ.

Filed: May 12, 1972 Appl. No.: 252,640

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data May 18, 1971 France.... 71.17955 US.Cl 417/429, 417/515, 222/135, 222/137 Int. Cl....... F041) 23/06, F04b7/00, B67d 5/18 Field of Search 417/426; 92/1351; 222/137, 135

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1968 Christie .1 222/1373,359,910 12/1967 Latham 417/426 3,484,207 12/1969 Anthon 222/1353,230,887 1/1966 Stallman 417/429 7 3,144,831 8/1964 Picke1s.... 417/4292,922,379 1/1960 Schultz 417/426 2,815,149 12/1957 Fraser 222/1373,496,970 2/1970 Pontigny 222/135 3,575,161 4/1971 London 251/9 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 487,500 6/1938 Great Britain 222/137 513,7832/1955 1ta1y 222/137 Primary Examiner-William L. Freeh Attorney, Agent,or FirmSamue1 L. Welt; Bernard S. Leon [57] ABSTRACT The presentinvention relates to a device for transferring predetermined quantitiesof different liquid medium contained in separate containers which devicecomprisespump means for selectively withdrawing predetermined amounts ofdifferent liquid media from different containers and then transferringthe withdrawn liquid media to the same receptacle.

5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHAY 4 IBM 3810.720

' SHEET 1 UF 5 Ltiu46 FIG. 6'

PATENTEDMAY 1 I91 7 .810 720 sum 2 OF 5 mmnnmwm Y 3310720 SHEET 3 UF 5APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONIn chemical or biological analysis, it is often necessary to withdrawfrom different vessels predetermined amounts of different liquid mediaand then to combine the media in a single vessel. Particularly whenanalyzing a specimen sample such as urea, blood, sputa and the like toascertain diagnostically significant indications, it is important thatready means be found for withdrawing from one container, a predeterminedamount of a liquid designed to biochemically react with specimen sampleand from another container predetermined amounts of said specimen sampleand then combining the two in a single vessel. In this way,diagnostically significant indications can be revealed.

The apparatus which constitutes the present invention is adapted toperform such an operation or a succession of such operations. Aparticularly noteworthy feature of the apparatus of the presentinvention resides in its capability of permitting the amount of liquidmedium that need be withdrawn from each vessel to be varied at will, inaccordance with established criteria.

The apparatus according to the present invention is characterized inthat it comprises two pumps provided by a piston meansmounted insequence in a system or circuit means. The circuit means is adoptedduring one phase of operation to withdraw liquid media contained inseparate receptacles in communicating with the circuit means and inanother phase of operation, to discharge all of the liquid mediawithdrawn from the separate receptacles into a single vessel. The amountof liquid drawn to the system or circuit means can be readily andconveniently varied depending upon the liquid medium utilized and theresult sought.

With the latter end in view, the invention is further characterized inthat means are provided for independently regulating the means whichcontrol the amount of liquid medium to be drawn into the system orcircuit means from the container in which a particular medium iscontained.

Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a device whichpermits the ready and facile transfer of predetermined quantities ofdifferent liquid media contained in separate vessels into a singlevessel. These and other objects will be apparent from the followingdrawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of apparatus according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial rear view of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a view in vertical section of the apparatus according to theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a cam.

FIG. 5 is a view in section on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of part of the apparatus. FIG. 7 is a perspectiveview of a component of the apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a front elevation of the apparatus according to the invention;and

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the operation sequence of the apparatus.

The device as shown in FIG. 1 comprises a block 10 advantageously formedfrom a transparent plastic. Block 10 is provided with two cylindricalbores 11 and 12. In the embodiment shown, the longitudinal axis of bores11 and 12 are parallel and of the same length, while the transverse axisof each of bore 11 and bore 12 are different. It is, of course, to beunderstood that the dimensions of bores 11 and 12 can be varied.

Disposed slidably in bores 11 and 12 are plungers or cylinders 13 and 14respectively which comprises a first and second pump means. Each plunger13 and 14 is closely fitted in bores l l and 12. Preferably a gap of theorder of a millimeter exists between the pistons, and the walls (e.g.wall 15), in block 10 which define bores 11 and 12. While this value ispreferred, it is not to be deemed limitative. A seal, advantageously, aremovable sealing ring 17 provides sealing tightness when the plunger 13is disposed in the bore 11 in accordance with conventional practice.

Chamber 21 of the first pump means is provided by the space in bore 11not occupied by the piston 13. Chamber 21 is in communication withchamber 24. Chamber 24 is provided by the space in bore 12 left vacantby piston 14. Communication between chambers 21 and 24 is provided by aconduit 22 extending from the top part 23 of chamber 21 to an orifice 27formed in the bottom part of the wall defining bore 12. Piston 14 hasdisposed about the lower portion thereof a sealing means 26 which may bea removable ring similar to removable ring 17.

Conduit 22 which may be any suitable hollow flexible tube means includesa flexible portion 27 which is capable of being deformed or crimpedwhereby the open ing in the conduit 22 may be closed.

A crimping or pressing means 44 is provided for closing conduit 22.Means 44 comprises a block portion 84 formed with an internal openportion 85. Crimping or pressing means 44 is received in an opening inblock 10 for vertical sliding movement. Movement of means 44 in avertical direction is controlled by means of a stud which is received ina longitudinal slot 81 in means 44. Stud 80 is secured to with block 10.

At its upper end, crimping means 44 is provided with a triangularportion 28; the rounded apex of which extends downwardly into the openportion of the means 44. A second triangular-shaped portion 41' is alsoprovided. The rounded apex of portion 41 extends upwardly into the saidopen portion of means 44. Disposed between the apexes of portions 28 and41' is a rigid member 83. The upper and lower faces of rigid member 83has formed thereon two dish-shaped members 29 and 31. The dish-shapedmembers face in opposite directions.

Flexible portion 27 is positioned in the open portion of crimping means44 between members 28 and 29.

A second deformable conduit 32 is positioned in crimping means 44between portions 31 and 41. Conduit 32 (FIG. 1) is securely received inan opening on the bottom part 34 of the wall which defines bore 10. Theother end of conduit 32 comprises a hollow needle 35 for withdrawing aliquid diluent, e.g. a specimen sample in solution form, from a vessel36.

An additional conduit 38 extends from the top of bore 12. Conduit 38comprises any suitable tube means for a major part of its length. At itsfree end, conduit 38 comprises a hollow needle means 39 and the conduit38 is movable advantageously so that needle 39 can occupy either of thetwo positions 39 or 39; whereby it can be received in either a firstvessel 40 or a second vessel 41 depending upon the phase of operation ofthe device.

The movement of members 28 and 41' in order to effect closure of theconduits 22 or 32 is effected by a cam 42 (FIGS. 4 and in cooperationwith a roller means 43 which is rotably secured to rod 82. Rod 82comprises a part of means 44 and is fixedly secured to member 84.Surrounding rod 82 is a biasing means 30. Biasing means 30 biases means44 in a downward vertical direction.

Cam 42 comprises a part of a disc 51 (FIGS. 4-6) in which a stud 54 ismounted. Thus, the cam disc 51 has integral therewith at its upper end,the cam 42 and the stud 54. On stud 54, is a roller 54' (FIGS. 3 and 6).Roller 54 is disposed in a horizontal slot in a member 55 secured to asleeve 45. Sleeve 45 is slidably positioned on a vertical shaft 46secured to the apparatus frame 47. A plate member 56 is integrallyconnected to sleeve 45. Plate member 56 is adopted to move sleeve 45along its vertical axis.

Plate member 56 has formed therein two indentations 57 and 58, whichhave arcuately shaped bottoms 59 and 59'. Rods 60 and 61 as seen in FIG.8 are fixedly secured, respectively, to piston means 13 and 14. Rods 60and 61 are slidably disposed in the indentations 57 and 58 on platemeans 56. Rods 60 and 61 are respectively provided with shoulders 62 and63 which bear upon the top surface 64 of plate member 56 in one positionof operation.

On rod 60, a stop 67 comprising a pointer means 68 is slidably disposed.Also on rod 61, a similar stop 70 provided with a pointer means 71 isdisposed. Each pointer 68 and 71 is associated with an indicia or scalemeans. As should be apparent from the drawings, stops 67 and 70 mayinclude bands about rods 60 and 61 which bands when loosened by theknurled knob shown in FIG. 3 can be moved upwardly or downwardly on rods60 and 61. When a desired position is reached as indicated on the scaleor indicia means, the band is tightened about rods 60 and 61. Thenrelative sliding movement between respectively rods 60 and 61 and stops67 and 70 is precluded. Of course, it should be apparent otherarrangements can also be employed in lieu of the aforementioned bands.

The apparatus additionally comprises an electric motor M, the shaft ofwhich forms the input of a coupling and breaking device and alsocomprises means which via an electric signal provided by a programmer orany logic device actuates the coupling and breaking device under theinfluence ofa current impulse. Actuation of motor means M initiatesrotation of disc 51 in accordance with conventional practice. Means areprovided for stopping the device, which means are controlled by theprogrammer or logic device.

A button 81 can be used for switching over from automatic operation tomanual operation, in which the starting and stopping are under manualcontrol.

A switch 82 (FIG. 3) is provided to initiate operation of the apparatuswhen its moving parts are in a predetermined position in accordance withconventional procedures.

The operation of the device is as follows. The hydraulic circuitassembly including the pump chambers is first filled with liquid, eg. aphysiological solution, eg. sterile water and the like. When anelectrical impulse is received from the programmer, member 56 whichinitially is in the uppermost position thereof is driven downwardly in avertical direction by means of roller 54'. Roller '54 which is fixedlysecured to disc 51 moves as a consequence of disc 51 being rotated underthe influence of the shaft of the motor means M. The movement of member56 in a vertical direction is controlled by the sliding movement ofsleeve 45 on shaft 46. During this phase of operation, cam 42 on disc 51moves out of engagement with roller 43. Pressing or crimping means 44 isthen biased downwardly under the influence of the spring means 30. Theapex portion of member 28 in cooperation with member 29 presses upon orsqueezes member 27. The conduit 22 of which flexible member 27 forms apart is then closed. Thus, the pump chamber 24 is no longer incommunication via conduit 22 with chamber 21. However, conduit 32 is notclosed as it is not forced into closed position by the cooperation ofportions 31 and 41'.

When plate member 56 meets the stop means secured to rod 61, piston 14is driven downwardly. As a consequence of this downward movement, avacuum is created in chamber 24 which progressively increases and liquidis sucked from vessel 40 through conduit 38 into chamber 24. During thisstage, chamber 24 is isolated from chamber 21 due to the fact thatflexible tube 27 is crimped. Thus, liquid cannot pass through conduit22. By proceeding accordingly, it is assured that the quantity of liquiddrawn into chamber 24 is dependent precisely on the distance of travelof piston 14. As plate member 56 moves downwardly after engagement withthe stop on piston rod 61, it comes into engagement with stop 67 securedto piston rod 60. During this stage, chamber 21 is in communication withvessel 36 via conduit 32. When plate 56 engages stop 67, the pistonmeans 13 is moved downwardly while piston means 14 moves concurrentlytherewith and liquid from receptacle 36 is drawn into the chamber 21.

By adjusting the stops to appropriate gradiations on the indicia means,the amount of movement of pistons 13 and 14 and hence the amount ofliquid taken into each chamber, can be controlled. The importance ofthis should be readily apparent to one skilled in the diagnostic art,because when doing analysis for diagnostically significant indications,for example, it is often desirable that a certain aliquot of specimensample should be combined with a certain aliquot of reagent medium inorder to assure that diagnostically significant indications be observed.

After the cam 51 has rotated through a predetermined angle, the rotationof cam 51 is stopped. The stopping is such that the amount of liquiddrawn into the chambers is the amount indicated on the indicia or scalemeans by the pointer before operation.

The next stage of the operation of the device which is initiated by asignal from the programmer causes roatation of disc 51 which inturnbrings cam 42 into engagement with roller means 43. Pressing means44 moves upwardly. Thus, the apex of portion 41 moves upwardly incooperation with member 31 causes conduit 32 to close. Concurrently,member 28 which bore upon the flexible portion 27 moves upwardly andpressure on tube 27 is released. Thus, conduit 22 is opened.Concurrently, member 56 is driven in an upward direction under theinfluence of roller 54' and disc 51. As plate member 56 moves in avertical direction upwardly, it first engages shoulder 63 and thenshoulder 62 formed integral respectively with pistons 14 and 13.Thereafter, the pistons rise simultaneously and since the orifice inconduit 32 is closed, all of the liquid contained in the chambers 21 and24 is forced via conduits 22 and 38 into receptacle 41 which has nowtaken the place of vessel 40. The liquid medium withdrawn from vessel 40during the first stage is first transferred into vessel 41. Its entryinto vessel 41 is followed by a predetermined amount of liquid mediumequal to the quantity withdrawn from vessel 36 during the first stage.Accordingly, the liquid medium in vessel 41 comprises both the liquidwhich has been withdrawn from vessel 40 and from vessel 36, e.g.centrifuged total blood, some globuals of which are withdrawn fordilution with physiological serum in a proportion defined by thepositions of stops 70 and 67. Liquid flows in both chambers during thesuction and delivery stages- The link cooperating with roller 54'insures that the conduits which include pipes 27 and 32 are moved intoengagement with portions 28 and 41' only when the pistons arestationery. The device which closes tubes 7 27 and 32 by squeezing orcrimping them, using the spring 30, enables the pipes or conduits tooperate repeatedly without damage. The tubes comprising the conduit maybe formed of any elastomeric material suitable for the purposes of thepresent invention. The bottom part of FIG. 9 shows valves V and V whenopen and closed respectively. The diagram 74 at the top part of FIG. 9shows how valve operation is controlled..Positions 75 and 76corresponding to the bottom and top dead center positions respectivelyof roller 54'. The angle between positions 75 and 76 correspond to themovement of roller 54'.

Each operating cycle is initiated by a signal from the programmer whichmay be any suitable logic device. In order to wash the device, knob 81is set to manual operation resulting in the continuance sequence ofoperating cycles in which valves V and V successfully take up theposition shown in the bottom of H6. 9. The apparatus operates withoutdamage even in the absence of liquid. The volume of either pump may bemodified by replacing the pistons and the corresponding ring seals.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for transferring quantities of different liquid mediacontained in separate liquid receiving vessels into a single vesselwhich comprises a conduit system having open ends, two piston pumpmeans, each 6 including a plunger portion and a pump casing in which theplunger portion is slidably received, disposed sequentially in theconduit system between the open ends, a first conduit portion of saidconduit system connecting said pump means, a first valve means in theconduit system between the said two pump means for opening and closingthe first conduit portion, a second conduit portion in the conduitsystem being secured to one of said pump means, said second conduitportion including one of said open ends of the conduit system, a thirdconduit portion in the conduit system secured to the other of saidpumps, said third conduit portion including the other of said open endsof the conduit sys tem, second valve means in the conduit systempositioned in the conduit system between one of said pump means and saidone of said open ends for cooperation with the second conduit portionwhereby said second valve means can effect the opening and closing ofsaid second conduit portion and means movable by a motor meansoperatively connected to the piston pumps and the first and second valvemeans for controlling the opening and closing of the first and secondconduit portions and the movement of the plunger portions of the pistonpumps, a portion of said first valve means and a portion of said secondvalve means being integrally connected for concurrent movement inresponse to movement of the means movable by said motor means.

2. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein removable seal means is positionedbetween each plunger portion and its associated pump casing.

3. An apparatus as in claim 2 wherein the pistons are driven via twoabutments, adjustably secured thereto.

4. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the first and second'conduitportions are formed from an elastomeric material and the opening andclosing thereof by the first and second valve means, respectively, iseffected by crimping the said conduit portions.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein each of the valve meanscomprises a stationary support member and a movable portion, each ofsaid conduit portions being disposed between a stationary support memberand a movable portion.

1. An apparatus for transferring quantities of different liquid mediacontained in separate liquid receiving vessels into a single vesselwhich comprises a conduit system having open ends, two piston pumpmeans, each including a plunger portion and a pump casing in which theplunger portion is slidably received, disposed sequentially in theconduit system between the open ends, a first conduit portion of saidconduit system connecting said pump means, a first valve means in theconduit system between the said two pump means for opening and closingthe first conduit portion, a second conduit portion in the conduitsystem being secured to one of said pump means, said second conduitportion including one of said open ends of the conduit system, a thirdconduit portion in the conduit system secured to the other of saidpumps, said third conduit portion including the other of said open endsof the conduit system, second valve means in the conduit systempositioned in the conduit system between one of said pump means and saidone of said open ends for cooperation with the second conduit portionwhereby said second valve means can effect the opening and closing ofsaid second conduit portion and means movable by a motor meansoperatively connected to the piston pumps and the first and second valvemeans for controlling the opening and closing of the first and secondconduit portions and the movement of the plunger portions of the pistonpumps, a portion of said first valve means and a portion of said secondvalve means being integrally connected for concurrent movement inresponse to movement of the means movable by said motor means.
 2. Anapparatus as in claim 1 wherein removable seal means is positionedbetween each plunger portion and its associated pump casing.
 3. Anapparatus as in claim 2 wherein the pistons are driven via twoabutments, adjustably secured thereto.
 4. An apparatus as in claim 1wherein the first and second conduit portions are formed from anelastomeric material and the opening and closing thereof by the firstand second valve means, respectively, is effected by crimping the saidconduit portions.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein each ofthe valve means comprises a stationary support member and a movableportion, each of said conduit portions being disposed between astationary support member and a movable portion.